2017~2024 Ordered set of 16" steel wheels and 215/70/16 winter tires for 2017 GT

As the title says, we picked up some new wheels and tires for the winter.

It took some time to research if it could be done, and I'm confident it will work. I never read anybody with a Grand Touring and 19" dropping to 16" wheels. Tire Rack would even allow the selection for tire/wheel packages. I had to tell Tire Race I was a Touring.

I also never heard of anybody going narrower for their winter tires here. To me, it makes complete sense that I'll get better snow traction, but maybe it's not so obvious to others or they get bad advice from their tire installers. If I could go 205, instead of 215, I would, but their are no 205/16 Bridgestone DM-V2 tires.

My only worry is the 3mm offset difference with the steel wheel. If the rotors hit, I'll just buy a spacer.

Cheers,

I've been winter driving my GT on 16" rims since December 2012. They work just fine, and are certainly easier to swap and store than my summer 19" rims. Steel wheels and Latitude Xi2s supplied by Kal Tire in Ottawa. The offset was fine and no spacers needed.

Brian

If I hadn't found my 17" sport Edition wheels for the deal I did, $80 for the set of four. I would have looked at 16" steel wheels and tires. I'm happy with the 17"s though, 225 is narrow enough, for me anyhow

Tire rack emailed me to let me know that the wheel and rim size are not the recommended sizes, nor is the width with the profile I chose. They asked if I would like to change it.

I told them how great it was for them to catch and notify a consumer who did it by accident, but I assured him I did it on purpose and was was aware of the speedometer impact.

Calculations I've done say the overall tire size is smaller, and the impact at 30mph is ~1mph, and The 60mph, ~2mph. The additional traction and confidence in slippery conditions with 215 will make it worth it.

People have asked why did you go all the way down to 16" from 19" wheels? Cost?

Many would go to 17" and we found the tire savings is nothing. At least on the day we considered to by Bridgestone DM-V2 tires, 215/65/17 was about $3 cheaper/tire than the smaller 215/70/16. I just confirmed it again before posting here.

The 16" wheels were definitely cheaper than the 17". ~$20-$30 cheaper/wheel, if memory serves me right.
Another benefit to 16" wheels over 17" is that they'll be lighter.

The high sidewalls of 16 inches also makes it less likely to damage the wheels if you slide sideways into a curb that's hidden by the snow.

I also like that the brakes are covered more to help retain the heat and prevent brake fade.

All of these reasons where why I chose the smaller steel wheels.

That's a great price on the wheels Ride92.

Brian, it's good to hear the 16" steel wheels worked without issues for your previous generation CX-5 Grand Touring. Do you think you could fit a finger between your calipers and wheels? I'm predicting it's going to be very tight. I've seen photos of 16" wheel clearance on 1st Gen CX-5 before. Tight.